Almost 1,2 billion people are underfed – the same number of people that are overweight to the point of obesity.

In the developed countries, the proportion of adults married has declined from 72% in 1970 to 60% in 1996. The chance of a first marriage ending in divorce is between 50% and 67%. The chance that a second marriage will end in divorce is about 10% higher than for the first marriage.

In 1998, US states spent $30 billion in funds on correctional services and $24 billion on social welfare.

In 1750 there were about 800 million people in the world. In 1850 there were a billion more, and by 1950, another billion. Then it took just 50 years to double to 6 billion.

In 1870 there were more Irish living in London than in Dublin.

The world average of egg consumption per capita is 230.

Since 1972, some 64 million tons of aluminum cans (about 3 trillion cans) have been produced. Placed end-to-end, they could stretch to the moon about a thousand times. Cans represent less than 1% of solid waste material.

The world’s largest coins, in size and standard value, were copper plates used in Alaska around 1850. They were about a metre (3 ft) long, half-a-metre (about 2 ft) wide, weighed 40 kg (90 lb), and were worth $2,500.

In 2000, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is the second wealthiest woman, with $5,2 billion.

Australians are the heaviest gamblers in the world; an estimated 82% of Australians bet. That is twice as much per capita as Europeans or Americans. Yet, Australia, with less than 1% of the world population, has 20% of the world’s poker machines.

A third of the world’s people live on less than $2 a day, with 1,2 billion people living on less than $1 a day.

In the 1400s, global income rose only 0,1% per year; today it often tops 5%.